Cooking For Your Man...

It's experiment time! I cooked this one night for my friend Suzy. She loved it and told her boyfriend, who is living interstate, all about it. He said it sounded delicious so Suzy, who is visiting her man next week, has decided to try making it for him as a surprise. It is a wonderful example of Modern Asian Cuisine. An impressive dinner party dish. Enjoy! This recipe is from the cookbook, The Spirit House. If you enjoy this recipe I seriously suggest buying yourself a copy of this fantastic Thai cookbook. It is unbelievable!

Coriander, Sesame and Coconut-crusted Chicken with Kaffir Lime Sauce

Serves 4

• SAUCE
• 200ml coconut cream
• 1/2 cup mirin
• 1/4 cup rice wine vinegar
• 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
• 6 double kaffir lime leaves, finely shredded
• 2 teaspoons fish sauce
• 2 teaspoons chilli jam
• CHICKEN
• 1 teaspoon light palm sugar
• 2 teaspoons oyster sauce
• 1 egg, lightly beaten
• 1/4 cup sesame seeds
• 1/4 cup shredded coconut
• 1 clove garlic, finely chopped
• 1/4 cup finely chopped coriander leaves and stems
• 4x150g pieces chicken breast, skin removed
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 250g sugar snap peas

To make the sauce, combine all the sauce ingredients in a pan and bring to the boil. Reduce heat and simmer for a few minutes. To prepare the chicken, dissolve the palm sugar in the oyster sauce. Stir in egg and the sesame seeds, shredded coconut, garlic and coriander. Spread the crust over the top of the chicken breasts and refrigerate for 2 hours. Preheat oven to 200oC. Heat the vegetable oil in a large frying pan. Carefully place the chicken breasts in the pan, crust side down, and cook over a moderate heat until crust is golden, about 5 minutes. Turn breasts and transfer to a baking tray, crust side up. Bake for approx 10 minutes. While chicken is cooking, bring a pot of water to the boil and lightly steam or blanch the sugar snap peas for 1 minute. Drain and divide between individual serving plates. Place chicken breast, crust side up, on peas and spoon sauce around.

You should find all of these ingredients in your supermarket. The Asian Food section is full of wonderous goodies! It can be very daunting for someone who hasn't cooked much Asian food before, so here is a very basic glossary...

• MIRIN - is an essential condiment used in Japanese cuisine, with a slightly sweet taste. It is a kind of rice wine similar to sake, but with a lower alcohol content.
• RICE WINE VINEGAR - Rice wine vinegar is made from rice and creates a less acidic product than other types of vinegar.
• KAFFIR LIME LEAVES - A small lime whose aromatic leaves are used fresh and dried in Asian cooking. You can buy these fresh leaves in packets in the produce section of the supermarket most of the time. The dried variety will be in jars in the Asian section. I have my own Kaffir Lime tree growing in a large pot in the backyard. I have been surprised as to how frequently I use the leaves. Only this particular variety of lime will give you the desired flavour.
• CHILLI JAM - You should be able to find this in the Asian section of your supermarket. It is great for using in stir fries and all kinds of dishes. The chilli jam I have at the moment is labeled as 'Chilli Paste" but the ingredients are the same. If you have trouble, here is a recipe for Chilli Jam.